What Devin Druid Says About "13 Reasons Why" Will Change The Way You Look at Tyler

We all know that 13 Reasons Why tells the story of Hannah Baker and her tragic suicide, but there's actually a lot of time spent fleshing out other characters in the series. With thirteen hours to fill, characters that were once one-dimensional in the original book version got backstories that really made you think. While nothing we learned excuses anyone's actions toward Hannah, it did help us somewhat understand their motivations and that they're not all bad people (with the exception of Bryce, who is truly irredeemable).

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One of the most polarizing characters in the series had to be Tyler Down, the school outcast. On one hand, he was easy to dislike. He was stalking Hannah and leaked a private photo of her to the whole school just because she didn't want to hang out with him after discovering he stalked her. But he was also sympathetic at times. On top of being ostracized from his classmates, he was constantly bullied and had nobody to turn to.

But at the end of the series, it's revealed that Tyler is stockpiling guns and materials for a bomb — possibly to carry out a school shooting. Can someone who's even considering doing something so horrible be anything but a villain?

We sat down with Devin Druid, who plays Tyler, to find out more about his complicated character. What he has to say may really change how you look at Tyler.

17: Do you think Tyler was a bad person in "13 Reasons Why"?

Devin: I would definitely start out by saying that nothing can justify what Tyler did to Hannah. He crossed a line and hurt this girl in a way he couldn't imagine. I think that comes down to him not thinking things through and he acted pretty selfishly, to be honest.

But it's just interesting the way people think things through. That was one of the most important jobs of portraying the story is that no human is inherently evil. Nobody sees themselves as being an evil person or doing something for a bad reason. There's always something that justifies it to themselves.

All the characters on the tapes try to shake the blame or justify their actions in some way. By saying, "Hannah is a liar," or, "What I did wasn't as bad as what she says — she's just being over dramatic. This happens to every girl at every school." So it was a really interesting thing to take a step back and look at these characters and try to think about how they thought it through.

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17: So why do you think Tyler was stalking Hannah?

Devin: For Tyler, his whole reasoning to Clay was that he's really in love with Hannah. And I've been seeing comments from people online saying, "That's that's not love, it's an obsession. And if Tyler was really in love, why would he hurt her that way?" And I think that's also a really good point.

But you have to think about the fact that Tyler is a high school student who's going through feelings that he's never felt before. You can tell that he's had very limited social interaction. He has no friends. The only person he's friendly with is Clay (who's just generally nice to everyone), Alex (who he just doesn't really interact with), and then Ryan (who he has a very small relationship with through the yearbook). He doesn't have any real friends.

You have to think about the fact that Tyler is a high school student who's going through feelings that he's never felt before... He doesn't have any real friends.

I also felt like there was something very different about him. Like in Tyler's room, on his dresser, he has all his cameras lined up in a very specific way — all on these perfectly crisp, white washcloths.

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He's very compulsive and obsessive in various ways. And he would show that in various ways — not just in the way he interacted with Hannah, but also the way he would wear his clothes and his hair.

Like after that scene with Clay in the dark room, you start to see Tyler accept his role in all of this. Tyler shifts from saying, "I didn't mean it," to kind of, "Yes, I had a part in all this — but maybe someone else is worse."

17: Why do you think Team Tapes never let Tyler into the alliance?

Devin: I don't have a canonical answer, but in my mind, I feel like the tape kids probably kept Tyler out of things because they're all closer together and probably trust each other more than Tyler. The thing is, Tyler already had this reputation of being weird and off in the school. So I think that just made him a prime candidate for being ostracized out of these people. And like I said earlier, everyone's trying to shake themselves of any blame at all, and I think that that guilt they have has to go somewhere so they're taking it out on Tyler, because why not?

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17: Why is Tyler collecting guns?

Devin: It's kind of interesting because I don't know anything other than what was written in the script and some of the direction that I got while filming and looking at the things that were happening to Tyler throughout the show.

But what I think was kind of interesting is that his story kind of mirror's Hannah's story where the whole time, she put out these tapes that told these characters to watch what you say and what you do because you pushed me to this place where I feel hopeless and I didn't feel like I deserved to be here anymore. So they're all listening to the tapes, and end up doing the same thing to Tyler by ostracizing him. Constantly bullying him and just, you know, picking on him relentlessly and pushing him past his breaking point.

Even in episode four in Tyler's tape, Hannah talks about how Tyler's picture of her ruined her reputation. And then in Clay's blind rage and search for justice, he turns around and does the same thing to Tyler that Tyler did to Hannah. And maybe Tyler deserved it, but it's not the moral high ground and it's kind of just repeating the cycle and breeding the same monster that Tyler did beforehand. So it starts with Tyler being ostracized and kicked out of this group and spirals out to more constant bullying, and verbal abuse, and physical abuse by the school bully Montgomery. Like Hannah, all this stuff just piled on top of each other and she couldn't hold on anymore and I think the same thing is happening to Tyler now.

Like Hannah, all this stuff just piled on top of each other and she couldn't hold on anymore and I think the same thing is happening to Tyler now.

17: Why do you think Tyler is taking such violent measures?

Devin: Tyler knows the truth about the tapes and he knows a lot of secrets from around the school. There's this one scene with Marcus and Courtney where he's like, "I know a lot more than just what's on the tapes. I see everything. I have pictures of everything." And Marcus is like, "What are you talking about?" and Tyler says something along the lines of, "What have you done around here that you don't want anyone to know about? I take a lot of pictures."

It implies that Tyler knows more dark things that people are trying to cover up that weren't on the tapes. So in Tyler's head, he's been pushed to this breaking point where he feels alone and hopeless. But maybe in his head he feels like the problem doesn't lie with him, it lies with these people. Because not only did they push him to this point, but they also pushed Hannah to this point. So the way that he reacts may be more destructive than Hannah's reaction.

Not only did they push him to this point, but they also pushed Hannah to this point. So the way that he reacts may be more destructive than Hannah's reaction.

17: Do you want there to be a sequel?

Devin: I think that we have an incredibly talented writing team and they've done a great job of telling Hannah's story and then building on top of these roles to flesh it out, make it three dimentional and more realistic. And I think all the plot lines they wove into season one, they worked out perfectly and are natural. They're things you would have thought would happen — like the court trial with the Bakers. So I think that we have great storylines that we could tell going forward.

The first season came with such an important message and story. We really talked about sexual assault, mental illness, and made it for the people who really need it to relate to and have that validation if they need it. At the end of the day, we can't just put something out there just to keep it going. It has to be important and it has to be for the people who need it — by telling an important story and continuing on the track of mental illness and maybe going off to explore more about gun safety. So if we approach it with the same thought, care, and love that we did the first season, then I think it could be something really great. It would be done that way if we continued. We wouldn't do it any other way.